Beyond’s Taboo appeal discontinued
The court appeal by Beyond Productions regarding the level of significant local content to acquire the Producer Offset for their production Taboo, has been discontinued, it has been announced by a statement from Screen Australia.
Taboo was the first production to be denied by Screen Australia and the tax authority on the grounds of lacking significant Australian material. They were also the first to appeal the ruling in both the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Federal Court.
An agreement was reached between the two parties but remains confidential.
Screen Australia’s SAC test reviews the following:
– The subject matter of the film
– The place where the film was made
– The nationalities and places of residence of those who made the film
– The details of production expenditure, and
– Any other matters that Screen Australia considers to be relevant.
In an Encore article in the May issue, according to Beyond, Taboo was produced by an Australian company, with 57 percent of total production taking place in the country and 86 percent of the budget being spent here. “The key creative personnel are all Australian, and there was a substantial Australian role in developing the series from the earlier program produced by National Geographic Channel,” said Borglund.
Screen Australia’s chief operating officer Fiona Cameron said that the SAC test is not a matter of ticking boxes to achieve an outcome: “It’s much more subjective and flexible than that, and flexibility has advantages and disadvantages”.
Beyond Productions would not comment when Encore enquired further.
Read the full May article here.
The news follows Essential Media & Entertainment’s appeal against Screen Australia. Essential’s program Lush House was rejected by Screen Australia to access the producer offset on the grounds it was infotainment rather than documentary. The production company appealed to the AAT which found the program was a documentary, but Screen Australia have since appealed, taking it to the Federal Court.
